“So geographers, in Africa maps, With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o'er uninhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns”
Jonathan Swift

“The birthplace of all humanity (if you believe the Darwinists), home to the greatest civilisation ever to grace the world (the Egyptians of course) and both the second largest continent in size and population, Africa is a beguiling creature. Those who visit her have often remarked on the tragedy and glory that stand side by side in this, the darkest of continents, and fall for her in their hearts time and time again. So much so that merely a couple of hundred years ago the European powers attempted to devour her, her people and her resources. They drew lines on maps, marched armies and sailed warships round her and up her rivers in that scramble for control and yet, within one hundred years, they were all in full retreat from her shores. Africa holds her secrets deep and dark and no one truely knows what lies buried in the heart of Africa.”
Albert Cohen, article for the Fortean Times, 2015

Africa, after so long under the jackboots of the rest of the world, is being reborn. This Phoenix-like rise from the fires of the 19th and 20th century has meant that Africa now has the largest number of people under 25 of any continent as wealth and modern science starts to revolutionize the lives of those who live there. And yet there are still entire regions that are almost entirely unexplored, that teams of intrepid fools venture into never to be seen again. However it is not this that has caused so much change and horror in recent years….

Made up of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Western Sahara.

The growth of an even more radical Islamic movement in Northern Africa, with the overthrow of relatively moderate governments in both Morocco and Algeria in the early 2010's, in turn led to a surprising resurgence by the more ancient Berber tribes from out of the deep desert. Night time raids, executed with devestating effect, sent the governments all over the region reeling and infrastructure destoyed. These attacks generated much discussion over where the Berber's were reciving their aid from and all the G20 nations have denied any involvement. Instead a mysterious figure who calls himself Tariq ibn Ziyad addresses the world through the internet and threatens to drive all of the arabs from the Sahara and the lands that bound it.

Nigeria, under the wise leadership of Idris Mtungu, has grown in the last 15 years to be the dominant power in the region, leveraging the oil revenues and political capital gained from them to expand influence in the region. Her sudden rise, unifiying the faith movements that had caused significant tensions within country previosuly behind a Greater Nigerian Nationalism reinvented the country and has made it the regional economic powerhouse. While she has been careful to not take an agressive military stance she has developed stronger links with China and utilised that relationship to provide technologies not previously at use in the area. Some say she is building the first African 21st century State, others decry her record on human rights and the use of the police state to limit protests against her regime.

All other countries in Western Africa, and some even beyond, look to the leadership of Nigeria now.

Made up of what were once Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Where once there was constant war and petty warlords there is now only destruction. On the 14th March 2014 an unknown organisation exploded a unknown number of very large explosive devices, including some that seemed to be atomic in nature within Middle Africa. All central infrastrutures were hit and the various goverments all collapsed within a matter of days, especially as leading figures were targeted by systematic assassination attempts also until there was no clear command in any of the previosuly recognised entities. The world stood by shocked and unable to act as rumours then started to emerge, within three months, of significant Volcanic activity unexpectedly happening within the Congo basin. It is believed that millions died. Five years on there is still no clear control of the area and the repeated earthquakes in the region as well as continuing development of what seems to be a new volcanic ridge have continued to hamper international aid efforts.

The Land of the Safari it is Eastern Africa that presents the image of the Savannah that most people consider the “African experience”. Sadly though, despite governmental efforts, it seems that the poachers still continue to succeed and animal populations of the Big Five crash to the point that both Leopard and Rhino seem likely to be comletely extinct in the region by 2025. Instead the nations of the area now play their other tourist cards, show casing instead the Coptic Churches of the early christians and the Ziggurats built in the region as the ancient cultures that once domianted this region. That and the designation as “the birthplace of humanity” means the Great Rift Valley and the areas round it continue to attract international attention, much of which is unappreciated by the states that have been established here. The continued survival of Mbponde Umgilang, for instance, as the President of the neo-facist Zimbabwe amazes many but none of the attempts by the UN or her members to unseat him have worked, despite the claims that he has been killed at least three times.

South Africa (RSA) has long been the wealthiest power in the region with substantial resources of Gold, Diamonds and Uranium all plaving significant value within the hands of the government; however this wealth has also led to the tensions within the nation being continual as each party and tribe claiming their right to their share is greater than the others they inhabit the RSA of with. This, combined with unusual phenomenon,such as extensive cattle mutilation and the 2014 “Summer of the Sky” (when a series of unidentified flying objects were sighted again and again all over Cape Province and the Transvaal) as well the internal collapse of the ANC following the murder of iconic figure Myki “Mick” Tsungu, has led to the rumours that the NZA leader and now RSA President Robben Mybekari has had a hand in any or all of these things.